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A mystery dying for a laugh The Perfect Murder Malvern Theatres **** IT SEEMS very on-trend to combine a
murder mystery with a suspect list of celebrities. If it isn't household
names turning up in Marple or Poirot, there's a celebrity spot or two to
be had in Midsomer Murders. This who-dunnit is very much in the same vein
with a cast of TV favourites led by Les Dennis, Claire Goose and Gray
O'Brien, who are backed up by Steven Miller from Casualty and Simona
Armstrong - a finalist in singing reality show How Do You Solve A
Problem Like Maria? There's also the added bonus that this thriller
has plenty of substance, plus a touch of comedy, as it is penned by
crime novelist Peter James, who has developed complex plots for his Roy
Grace series. In this story we see a young Detective Grace
investigate his first homicide case. The stage is split between the home of an
unhappily married couple Victor and Joan Smiley (Les Dennis and Claire
Goose who wonderfully bicker throughout) and a brothel in Brighton,
where Victor regularly visits eastern European prostitute Kamila. She in
turn is getting separate visits from Det Grace as her psychic abilities
are helping to solve murders in the area. It may seem a little slow to get going but all
the foundations are being laid for what will ultimately be revealed as
the "perfect murder". Be warned, there are some plot holes if you delve
too deeply into the hows and probability of everything taking place, but
it bubbles along nicely to be a gentle, entertaining, above-average
mystery. The script also has some nice touches by
name-checking popular culture when murder mystery-obsessed Victor
bemoans the CSIs and NCIS' of America against his beloved UK television
detectives. He even lives by the rule "WWSD" (What would Sherlock Do?),
while his wife is more interested in the new Sherlock Holmes for his
"nice bum". Talking about detectives, Steven Miller, who
played Dr Lenny Lyons in Casualty, splendidly hits just the right note
as the serious, arduous copper in this tale. If you like a murder mystery, then you won't go
wrong with this witty piece of theatre. Case closed. To 15-02-14. Alison Brinkworth
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